Tad Cummins May Have Learnt How To Avoid Capture After Elizabeth Thomas Kidnapping From TV

Tad Cummins, 50, a former Tennessee high school teacher accused of abducting 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas in March, is seen in this booking photo after his arrest by Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Response Team in Cecilville area of Siskiyou County, California, April 20, 2017. Photo: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via REUTERS

The former Tennessee high school teacher who allegedly kidnapped one of his students may have learnt how to evade capture, by staying in remote areas, from television shows that portray people surviving in the wild, his wife told Inside Edition.

Tad Cummins, 50, was arrested last month after he ran away with his 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas in March this year. After almost a month away from the public eye, Thomas was reunited with her family in April and Cummins was arrested. He is facing charges of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with the intention to engage in sexual activity.

“He would watch ‘Off the Grid’ and things like that and talk about living out in remote areas,” Cummins’ wife Jill Cummins told Inside Edition. She filed for divorce from her husband soon after he disappeared with his student.

A never-before-seen video of the teen just as she was leaving her home to join Cummins was obtained by ABC News and released Friday. The video shows Thomas exiting her house as the family dog stands around her, wagging its tail. Thomas, who had two bags with her at the time, then leaves to sit in a car that reportedly took her to Cummins.

Cummins and Thomas, who was facing a hard time adjusting in school after years of home schooling, were reported to be very close. According to Cummins’ wife, he admitted to sleeping with his student.

“I said, ‘Well, did you sleep with her?’ And he said, ‘Yes I did,’” Jill said, in an interview with Inside Edition. “And I didn't want any details, but I knew the truth. I just wanted to hear it from him to me.”

Jill also said he asked her for forgiveness and claimed he loved her.

Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas, who disappeared March 13, are seen in this photo taken in January 2017.Photo: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

ABC News’ 20/20 show on Friday traced Cummins and Thomas’ steps during their time on the run. The network’s correspondent Eva Pilgrim talked to people at the secluded California commune where both of them stayed at one point while they were missing.

Residents reportedly asked them to leave as they never did their share of work, only spending time with each other. Pilgrim told the publication, “There were only a small number of residents and their fear of Tad Cummins made them wait until more people came so they could confront him. They didn't want to confront him when they only had a few people there.”

After being forced out of the commune, both of them went on to live at a cabin in the woods in Cecilville, California. According to the ABC report, Thomas had not showered for weeks when she and Cummins were captured from the cabin last month.

According to court documents, Cummins allegedly planned to take his student to Mexico eventually using a “small watercraft,” and reportedly also conducted a test run to cross into Mexico from San Diego. His wife, however, was surprised at these allegations, claiming that he had no prior experience in this.